Akron Classmates Achieved High Flying Jobs as Astronaut, Blue Angel

AKRON, OHIO -- Two high school classmates driven early by different goals found themselves a decade later working in similar career fields -- one a top naval aviator and one a NASA astronaut.

On June 6, 1966, Stuart Robinson Powrie and Judith Arlene Resnik graduated with their senior class from Firestone High School. Their families and the educators at the Akron, Ohio school had inspired the two to climb higher and travel farther.

Stu (as he liked to called) was a competitive swimmer during high school, a sport he continued during his years at the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1970, Powrie graduated from the academy, but not before he set two Navy records as a competitive swimmer.

Judy loved classical piano, however she loved mathematics even more during high school. She even earned a perfect score on her SAT exam. In 1970, she graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering.

Upclose: Two Engineers Discuss Servicing Space Shuttle Atlantis

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's space shuttle fleet served as an orbiting workshop for thirty years -- a space truck which delivered a variety of spacecraft and segments of the International Space Station into orbit.

Five space-worthy orbiters were built to allow astronauts to live and work in space. Behind the pressurized living quarters, a massive 60-foot cargo bay housed commercial and scientific satellites, or a pressurized module, which extended the volume of the crew's work space.

Each orbiter named to honor a sailing vessel -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. Each was structurally built the same, however there were differences to those who knew them on an intimate basis.

Between 1981 through 2011, NASA launched 135 space shuttle missions from the Kennedy Space Center. Of those, two orbiters -- Columbia and Challenger -- did not return home after launch due to failures.

At the Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex, one shuttle is on display following her retirement. Atlantis, a veteran of 33 space flights, rests inside a multi-level building built especially for the spacecraft.